GoPro Inc Still Favored By iPhone, Android Users

Google searches for GoPro declined slightly last week, but the brand continues to perform quite well around the globe. The data points which suggest that Android and iPhone users prefer GoPro cameras over those made by competitors are especially positive, given that the two mobile operating systems make up the vast majority of the smartphone market.

GoPro searches, app downloads on the decline

Dougherty & Company analysts Charles Anderson and Jessica McHugh put out their latest weekly review of data points on GoPro on Monday. They report that global searches for GoPro declined 3% year over year last week, compared to a 3% increase the week before (All graphs in this article are courtesy Dougherty & Company.).

U.S. searches fell 14% compared to the same week last year, compared to the previous week’s 4% increase.

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Also YouTube searches for GoPro were flat compared with the previous year, which was consistent with the previous year.

The GoPro app on Apple’s App Store moved down the charts by 36% compared to last year, compared to the previous week’s 34% decline. On the Google Play store, the app fell down the charts by 19%, compared to the previous week’s 1% decline. On the iPad, GoPro’s app fell 39% year over year on the download charts compared to last week’s 34% decline.

GoPro still going strong in China despite Xiaomi

The Dougherty team also compared GoPro sales in China compared to camera sales made by domestic competitor Xiaomi but priced in the sub-$100 range. They learned that iPhone and Android users in the world’s biggest market also preferred GoPro’s cameras over Xiaomi’s camera.

On Aug. 15, they found that Xiaomi’s camera app was the 40th most-downloaded app in Google Play’s Photography category, while GoPro’s app was in 27th place. GoPro’s app placed at 157 on the iPhone store in China, compared to Xiaomi’s placement in 224th position

The company should benefit further from the release of its new video editing app this summer. Analysts have been calling for GoPro to innovate in the area of video editing for quite some time, and it looks like this app is the company’s answer to those calls.

Why the data isn’t concerning

The analysts are not worried about these declines, however, as they note that GoPro unit sales outperformed Google searches in the fourth quarter of 2014 and the first two quarters of this year. The reason for this is because as more and more consumers become aware of a particular brand, the fewer searches they do on it because they already know what the brand offers.

Also the number of apps being downloaded on smartphones does not include buyers of GoPro’s least expensive camera, the HERO, which is priced at $130. The reason for this is because it does not have Wi-Fi and therefore do not use the smartphone app. Further, the number of app downloads does not include repeat buyers of GoPro cameras because they already downloaded the app.

One thing they don’t mention, however, is that the number of app downloads does include previous owners of GoPro cameras who simply got a new phone and downloaded the app onto their new phone.

GoPro still building media brand

One of the theories GoPro bulls have is that the company will be able to successfully develop and implement its media brand, and there are signs that this is indeed working. According to the Dougherty team, GoPro added more than 17,000 subscribers to its YouTube channel last week, which implies a 27% annual growth rate.

Here’s how GoPro stacks up to other media brands on YouTube

The brand also added more than 78,000 followers on Instagram, which suggests a 67% annual growth rate.

As of this writing, shares of GoPro were down 1.37% at $57.75 per share. Anderson and McHugh have a Buy rating and $70 per share price target on the action video camera manufacturer.

Michelle Jones was a television news producer for eight years. She produced the morning news programs for the NBC affiliates in Evansville, Indiana and Huntsville, Alabama and spent a short time at the CBS affiliate in Huntsville. She has experience as a writer and public relations expert for a wide variety of businesses. Michelle has been with ValueWalk since 2012 and is now our editor-in-chief. Email her at [email protected]

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